The present invention relates to a hygiene shoe for martial arts. The hygiene shoe is formed of a form-fitting stretchable material such as neoprene, covered by a flexible fabric on the outside and inside. An outer portion of the hygiene shoe can be formed of a first color selected to match a first belt level of martial arts and an inner portion of the hygiene shoe can be formed of a second color to match a second belt level of martial arts. The hygiene shoe is reversible for preference of the color to be worn and for extending the life of the shoe. A traction portion on the sole of the hygiene shoe comprising a first circular portion beneath the ball of the foot and a second circular portion beneath the heel of the foot connected by connecting portion beneath the outside edge of the foot provides forward movement, pivoting on the ball and heel of the foot and lateral stability.
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1. A reversible hygiene shoe for use in the martial arts comprising:
an upper portion coupled to a sole portion, said upper portion and said sole portion being formed of a stretchable form-fitting material;
an opening in the upper portion adapted to receive a foot of a user;
a flap extending from a first side of said opening;
a first attachment member attached to said flap;
a second attachment member attached to an opposite side of said opening, wherein said first attachment member can be attached to said second attachment member for closing said opening extension and securing said shoe to a user's foot,
wherein an outer portion of the upper portion can be pushed inside an inner portion of said upper portion for reversing said hygiene shoe; and
wherein said stretchable form-fitting material is formed of a first outer skin layer of a nylon stretch material, a second outer skin layer of a nylon stretch material and an inner layer positioned between said first outer skin layer and said second outer skin layer, said inner layer being formed of a neoprene foam material for molding to a user's foot.
2. The shoe of
3. The shoe of
5. The shoe of
10. The shoe of
11. The shoe of
12. The shoe of
13. The shoe of
15. The shoe of
16. The shoe of
17. The shoe of
18. The shoe of
20. The shoe of
22. The shoe of
a belt portion and an attaching member, said attaching member attaching said belt portion to said upper portion, said belt portion is similar in appearance to a martial arts belt.
23. The shoe of
25. The shoe of
a tab and an attaching member, said attaching member attaching said tab to a rear of said shoe, said tab is similar in appearance to a martial arts belt.
26. The shoe of
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This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/751,931, filed Dec. 21, 2005, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference into this application.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a reversible hygiene shoe to be worn during indoor practice of martial arts.
2. Description of Related Art
Protective shoes for martial art sports are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,949,943 disclose a shoe comprising a casing containing an energy-absorbent soft resilient material substantially open at the bottom. The casing is formed of a plastic material. Straps are provided for aiding the retention and for tightening the shoe on the foot of the wearer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,972,609 disclose a protective shoe upper and an elastic strap which is partially wrapped around the shoe. The shoe is made of resilient plastic foam covered with a vinyl coating.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,769,928 disclose a shoe and sole to provide traction during martial arts practices and which allows the shoe to be worn for normal day-to-day use.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,211,672 disclose a protective shoe formed of a sponge based upper member. A sole member includes an enclosed toe portion and arch portion and defining an open heel area and open ball of foot area. The sole is constructed of nylon reinforced vinyl.
The above-described patents have the disadvantages that they are formed of a rigid material or have a rigid sole with a hard heel that can result in injury to other practitioners and can track dirt and cause scuff marks into the workout area.
One problem in the martial arts industry is a hygiene issue created by the traditional bare foot practice and conventional shoes which have no bottom. For example, the hygiene problem can include warts, sweat, dirty toenails, odor, skin transmitted diseases and the like. Also, many practitioners do not want their feet and toes exposed for aesthetic purposes and fear of injury.
It is desirable to provide a hygiene shoe to address the above-described shortcomings.
The present invention relates to a hygiene shoe for martial arts. The hygiene shoe is formed of a form-fitting stretchable material such as neoprene, covered by a flexible fabric on the outside and inside. An outer portion of the hygiene shoe can be formed of a first color selected to match a first belt level of martial arts and an inner portion of the hygiene shoe can be formed of a second color to match a second belt level of martial arts. The hygiene shoe is reversible for preference of the color to be worn and for extending the life of the shoe. A traction portion on the sole of the hygiene shoe comprising a first circular portion beneath the ball of the foot and a second circular portion beneath the heel of the foot connected by connecting portion beneath the outside edge of the foot provides forward movement, pivoting on the ball and heel of the foot and lateral stability. The traction portion is provided on both the inside and outside portion of the hygiene shoe.
The hygiene shoe can be used to keep the toes warm. The hygiene shoe can also be used in combination with martial arts sparing equipment in which the sparing equipment is placed over hygiene shoe without removal of the hygiene. shoe from the foot. The hygiene shoe is also washable.
For safety consideration, the hygiene shoe has no heel or hard sole, no buttons, no sharp edges, no hard stitching and no grommets. Accordingly, wearing of the hygiene shoe create a safer than barefoot experience. The hygiene shoe protects one's feet during board breaking from scratches. The hygiene shoe also keeps a user's toes together so at not to jam them or have them caught in the martial arts mats resulting in sprains, and protecting other practitioners from scratches and cuts by the toenails. The hygiene shoe can increase the enrollment of martial arts students that have the above-mentioned concerns and change the practice as we know it for the best. Additionally, since the hygiene shoe will only be worn indoors, the hygiene shoe will keep the martial arts mats considerably cleaner and odor free.
The invention will be more fully described by reference to the following drawings.
Reference will now be made in greater detail to a preferred embodiment of the invention, an example of which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numerals will be used throughout the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts.
In one embodiment, outer portion 16 is formed of a first color and inner portion 18 is formed of a second color. The first color can be selected to match the color of a first belt level of martial arts, for example, a yellow belt, and the second color can be selected to match a second belt level of martial arts, for example, a red belt. Accordingly, the user can wear hygiene shoe 10 with outer portion 16 showing or reverse hygiene shoe 10 with inner portion 18 showing to match a belt level of martial arts which the user is currently practicing.
Opening 20 is formed in upper portion 12 for receiving a foot of a user. Opening extension 21 extends from opening 20 to provide ease of insertion of a foot of the user into opening 20. Flap 22 extends from side 23 of opening extension 21. Attachment member 26 extends from side 25 on the opposite side of opening extension 21. For example, attachment member 24 and attachment member 26 can be formed of a hook and loop material.
Flap 22 can be closed for attaching attachment member 24 to attachment member 26, as shown in
Referring to
In one embodiment, hygiene shoe 10 is formed of a single piece of material, as shown in
Hygiene shoe 10 is formed of a stretchable form-fitting material for molding to a user's foot. In one embodiment, hygiene shoe 10 can be formed of first outer skin layer 40 formed of a nylon stretch material and second outer skin layer 42 formed of a nylon stretch material, as shown in
Sole portion 14 can comprise traction portion 50, as shown in
In an alternate embodiment shown in
In an alternate embodiment, upper portion 12 of hygiene shoe 70 includes opening 71, as shown in
Removable tab 108 is attached with attaching member 109 to rear 129 of hygiene shoe 100, as shown in
It is to be understood that the above-described embodiments are illustrative of only a few of the many possible specific embodiments, which can represent applications of the principles of the invention. Numerous and varied other arrangements can be readily devised in accordance with these principles by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
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